"The Devil and Tom Walker" is a classic example of a morality tale. A morality tale conveys a simple moral lesson, marking a clear distinction between good and bad characters, and between moral and immoral actions. Characters in a morality tale often face a decision with ethical consequences, and readers expect that a character who has made the “wrong” choice will be punished by the story’s end. Many well-known fables could be categorized as morality tales, and there are many fable-like elements to this story, from the simplicity of its characters to its reliance on local superstitions and figures from folk-mythology.
Irving foregrounds morality throughout the story, and there is little confusion about who is a “good” or “bad” character. From the beginning of the story to the end, Tom and his wife are greedy and selfish, and they experience no major development or change, remaining more or less static. In a tale such as this, there is little of the psychological realism or complex interiority that one might expect from characters in a longer novel. Instead, they often make choices that seem unlikely, falling for conspicuous dangers that seem obvious to the reader, and which are clearly broadcasted by the narrator. The main characters in this story embody one trait at the expense of all others (greed) and the reader's expectation that they will meet their ends as consequence of their greedy choices is ultimately satisfied.
